John pbentioe



J. PRENTICE.

. Cigar Machine.

No. 44.114. Patented Sept. 6. 1864. I i

fii'irzeasew [RI/anger, i an UNirEn STATES .IOHN PRENTIUE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CIGAR-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of LcttersPatent No. l LH 1 dated September 6, 1864.

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN PRENTIOE, of the city and State of New York, have invented, made, and applied to use a certain new and useful Improvement in Cigar-Making Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, wherein Figure 1 is a plan of my improved cigarmachine. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same with the driving-pulley removed, and Fig. 3 is a cross=seetion of the elastic rollers that shape the cigar and apply the wrapper.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts. r

In the manufacture of cigars it is necessary to give a general form by pressure to the interior portions, and then envelop the same with a wrapper.

The machine-made cigars, as a general thing, have not heretofore been shaped and wrapped in a manner acceptable to the public, the action of the wooden or metal rollers and belts heretofore employed compressing the filling too much in some places and not sufficiently in others, rendering the smoking unequal; and at the same time the machines heretofore employedhave been difiicult to supply with tobacco filling and wrapper, requiring a person with considerable experience.

The nature of my said invention consists in four rollers covered with india-rubber or other elastic material, of a less diameter at the point where the cigar is the largest, and tapering each way correspond generally with the shape of cigar, so that the compressing of the filling and the winding on of the wrapper shall be done between the four rollers in a very quick and perfect manner, because the yielding nature of the surface of such rollers prevents undue pressure on any part of the cigar, and consequently said cigar is as perfect in appearance and as easy to smoke as the best handmade cigars; and my machine can, after but little practice, be operated by a child, while the hand-made cigars require experienced workmen. I provide for opening the rollers for introducing the filling, and also for delivering the cigar after it is entirely formed, except the tip and cutting off the end, which I prefer to do by hand or by a separate mechanism.

In the drawings, a a are frames of any con venient size and shape, connected by the tierods I) b. c is a shaft driven by competent power with a gear-wheel, d, taking the intermediate pinion, e, that in turn works into the gears 73 'i 011 the respective shafts f, g, and h. These shafts f, g, and h are fitted in journalboxes in slides formed in the frames a a, so that the two shafts f and 9 can be slid apart horizontally, and the shaft h can be slid away from the shaft 0,- or, if desired, the shaft 0 might also be set in sliding journal-boxes, in order that said shafts c and h both be moved away from or toward each other. These shafts are drawn toward each other by the springs k and Z, acting on the bent levers in, n, and 0,

and the bent levers m at the respective ends of the machine are connected by the bar 1), so that when said bar is raised, by a treadle or otherwise, against the action of the springs 70 the shaft h will be drawn away from the shaft by links a u, with a cross-bar, c, which, when' drawn down by a treadle or otherwise, separates the shafts f and g and the rollers w and a; on the respective shafts for the delivery of the cigar when finished.

It will now be understood that the rollers q, r, w, and 00, are the rollers that form the cigar. They all turn in the same direction; hence any filling that is placed between them after the roller h is moved back will be compressed together and brought to the general shape of the opening at the center between the group of rollers, and then as one end of the wrapper is introduced the revolutions of the rollers will wind the same properly around the filling. It is to be borne in mind that the rollers are made smallest where the cigar is largest and tapered to properly shape the same, and that the rollers themselves on the said shafts are to be made of india-rubber or similar elastic material that 'will yield to inequalities in the tobacco, and not injure the cigar by too much pressure on any portion that may be thicker than the rest of the tobacco. The springs employed also allow the rollers to yield by sliding with thinjournalboXes, and this movement, as before mentioned, allows for the introduction of the filling or the delivery of the cigar. I

In cases where the cigar is to be made parallel instead of concaved in the usual form, said rollers q, a", w, and a: are to be of a uniform diameter throughout, instead of being smaller near their middle parts, as represented.

I claim 1. The employment of a group of elastic rollers made concave longitudinally for the purpose of giving proper shape to the cigar and applying the wrapper thereto, substantially as herein described:

2. In combination with the elastic rollers, the elbow-levers m n, cross-bars s b, rods u u, and bar 9, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The sliding boxes when used in connection with the arrangement of levers and rollers for the purpose of introducing and discharging the cigar from the machine, when made and constructed as herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature this 25th day of June, 1864.

' JOHN PRENTICE. 

